Infighting

I have a 2.4 colony and just today i noticed some squeaking. Assumed it was some new pinkies but it actually was my two males fighting. Is this normal. I noticed the one winning has developed a large set of balls recently that i never noticed before.

Hi,

I'm only repeating what I've read but I thought you were only supposed to have one male per group because they fight.

Perhaps you could split him out just now then add some young females to his tank and have a second colony?


dr del

You cannot have 2 males in a colony, they will fight to the death

I have no issue with multiple males together.

BUT.

If you do have issues, you need to separate them. :)
Very simple!

Yep... take out the other male and see what happens

If the males are raised up together, you don't usually have fighting, but introducing new males, you will have fighting.

This is a young colony. Had them for 3 weeks if not more. And have never had any issues. They have all been together 2.4... Hmmm

You can also try flicking the aggressor when you catch him fighting. It helps with the majority of aggressors, but no promises!

Just seperate to 1.2, and add females from the first littlers

Fed off the weaker male tonight. 1.4 now. So now i need some pinks... Been 3 weeks and no signs yet

How old are they?

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Originally Posted by llovelace

How old are they?

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Im not sure. Breeder wasnt either figured arround 6 weeks though

6 weeks is a little early. Sometimes they don't produce until they are 12 weeks old, but it is common for them to go around 8 weeks (get preggo).

Eight weeks? Are you sure you're not thinking of norways?

It's typical for my soft fur groups to start producing at about 4 months of age. Once in a while I'll get a group that will give me babies younger, but it's not often.

No I'm not thinking of norways. My first asf had babies a week or so ago and is only 7 weeks old ... they mature at 6 but often don't produce until 12. I said 8 is not uncommon because I hear of it a lot.

Huh. I guess I've been doing it wrong for the last four years.

No ASF I have ever produced or seen is large enough, or mature enough to breed at 8 weeks. Male, or female.

Mine that are little over 3mths are just now starting to get it on :D don't know if anything took, but the male was chasing all the females around :O I don't need anymore right away.

Anyone in s.jersey need some live asf's

Hey I'm just saying ... mine got preggo early, nothing I can do about it, lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch

Hey I'm just saying ... mine got preggo early, nothing I can do about it, lol.

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A little mature for their age :bow:

Lmao, not really, as she ate her babies. Still too young, don't wanna take care of them.. ugh, teen rats.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch

6 weeks is a little early. Sometimes they don't produce until they are 12 weeks old, but it is common for them to go around 8 weeks (get preggo).

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Oh and I need to clarify this post so no one gets their panties in a bunch ....
In case it was read wrong.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch

Oh and I need to clarify this post so no one gets their panties in a bunch ....
In case it was read wrong.

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Too late, I can't get mine un-bunched now :P

Nobody has their undies in a bunch, I'm just correcting misinformation based on my own experience, and that of other breeders who have bred thousands of these rats. There's way too much of that that goes around. Look back thorugh past posts and you'll see that 4 months is the "norm" for first litters. I'm not just pulling the number out of my hind end. Once you've been breeding them longer than a month, you'll understand. It's a newbie mistake, no biggie.

Your breeder was off on his estimation of their age. No other explanation.

And with that I'm done in here. No sense in bickering over silly stuff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shadera

Nobody has their undies in a bunch, I'm just correcting misinformation based on my own experience, and that of other breeders who have bred thousands of these rats. There's way too much of that that goes around. Look back thorugh past posts and you'll see that 4 months is the "norm" for first litters. I'm not just pulling the number out of my hind end. Once you've been breeding them longer than a month, you'll understand. It's a newbie mistake, no biggie.

Your breeder was off on his estimation of their age. No other explanation.

And with that I'm done in here. No sense in bickering over silly stuff.

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Well, see, that's my point. I'm not trying to fight with you, but you came off defensive. "I must have been doing it wrong for 4 years." No need for that. Thus my comment about undies.

Anyway, it doesn't matter how long I have been doing it, I just am going off of what others have told me. And really, our answers are not too far off from each other. Some ASF's get preggo around 8 weeks and have babies around 11 or 12. Some get preggo around 12 weeks and have babies around 15 or 16 (which is your 4 month production number). Some go in between. One of mine happened to be noticably preggo around 7 weeks.
Just because it isn't common for you doesn't mean it doesn't happen often.

I didn't claim I was right, I just claimed I had a rat go early :) I am pretty sure I made that clear. All I said was that it was common for them to go earlier ... which I have heard of happening often.

You should never keep adult males together in a breeding group. It does not do any good to do it and the majority of the time it causes problems.